The Temptations of A TimeTurness
by falling skywards
Summary: Hermione needed it. She needed it inside her, around her, she needed it to fill her up and then to spill it out. Knowledge, that is. But how far will she go to get it? Set in third year, H/Hr/L ? , involving Time Travel in a whole new way. M to be safe.
1. Addiction

The Temptations of a Time**-**Turness

By Falling Skywards

Chapter 1: Addiction

Authors Notes: So, I think I'm finally back... Back to haunting your nightmares with horrible fanfiction that is! Mwahaha! Oh, and please review, subscribe, favourite, the works. Also, I may get back the 'The Hokage's Exodus', someday. But only if you're all very good.

XXXXXX

Hermione Granger had an addiction.

It was not necessarily a bad one, actually. She had grown up with it, and seeing as she had done fairly well in life so far, there was no reason for her to see that changing any time soon. No, in fact she sought out to satisfy that addiction, to fulfil her cravings, to satisfy her insatiable need.

An addiction to what, however?

Hermione Granger had an addiction to learning, to knowledge, to using her knowledge to become one of the greatest witches of all time.

Clearly, and she knew this, this was an addiction that nobody could claim as being negative, as knowledge, in the sense of book-smarts, is almost always beneficial.

However, the means that one may use to satisfy an addiction, regardless of the best intentions, may not be as... socially acceptable.

XXXXXX

It was soon to be the third year of Hermione Granger's time at Hogwarts, and she was looking forward to flaunting her genius this year.

She had a tool that no other student had**,** a gift that would allow her to show up other students, to complete more work than any one person should ever be forced to suffer.

That gift was a time-turner, and she had received it to supplement her multiple course choices, allowing her to gain a few extra hours each day. By simply winding the time-turner's hands back a few degrees, she could happily go back a few hours, head to an extra class and continue to stimulate her mind. Seeing as the Time-Turner look quite similar to a clock, Hermione found it easy to speculate that one full turn would send her back 24 hours.

However, she had been made to promise to the Headmaster, Dumbledore, that she would only use it as much was absolutely necessary, a promise that she did not happily make. And why should she like that? She had always been an information junkie; the prospect of almost infinite knowledge at her fingertips was so tantalising, so promising that it was only her fear of rules that kept her in line.

All those hours that could've been spent in the library... she often shuddered in pleasure at the fantasy.

However, school was right on the horizon, and soon she would be taught again! Books were hardly stimulus for her mind, once she had read them, she had to search and hunt for more. She much preferred the Greek teaching method, simply to have teachers. And sadly, due to her muggle-born status, it was near impossible to get a tutor, as her parents hardly had the money to afford one, let alone the exchange rate and cost of going to Diagon Alley.

So, for now, she was stuck simply sinking her teeth into books, sucking out the inherent knowledge until she was satisfied.

The year hadn't even started, yet she was already on the verge of being able to pass each of her subjects, simply through the amount of time she devoted to her study, even during her families trip to the beautiful country of France. That was not to say that she would excel, just yet. But that was merely a month or two away, and with her time-turner, alongside the fun she always managed to have at school, the time would fly by.

XXXXXX

"Harry! Oh, Harry, how has your summer been?" exclaimed Hermione, delving into a comfortable conversation with The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Around the two stood the damp, dark walls of the leaky cauldron, contrasting the cheerful and boisterous atmosphere that could be felt from the other patrons. This was only boosted by the fact that there was a celebrity amongst them, although they were rapidly getting used to that.

Hermione was as joyous as the drunken men around her seemed, having finally met up with her best friend, Harry, who had apparently been staying in Diagon Alley for the past few weeks. Although he was unwilling to say why, becoming shifty when the subject was brought up. Thankfully, Hermione was the type who would allow her friends their privacy, and moved the conversation onto other topics.

"...I take it that you've heard about Black then, Hermione?" asked Harry, attempting to fill a lull in conversation with something topical, although frightening.

"Uh... yes, I have Harry, and I'm rather worried for you. I hope you've been studying up on Defence Against the Dark Arts, just in case!" Hermione had to admit, after reading about Sirius Black in the Daily Prophet, which she subscribed to, she had been immediately worried. Initially, she had planned to do some research on the man, but had been distracted by more interesting books.

Harry shifted in his seat, as long fingers belonging to him began to drum, gently, against the cheap, wooden table that they sat in front of.

"To be honest, I've done nothing at all. I've spent the time just goofing around, really. Oh, and spending time with the Weasley family whenever they've floo'd in.

Hermione scowled, finding it absurd that Harry could be so lazy, especially when there were two mass-murderers after him, despite one of them not having a body to use.

"Well, once we get on the train I'll start explaining the year**'**s work, alright?"

"Do we have to?" Harry whined, not looking forward to being taught any time before it was necessary.

Hermione's eyes turned to stone as she inhaled deeply, the bushy haired girl exuding an aura of violence towards her green-eyed friend.

"Alright, alright! " Harry exclaimed, not wanting to anger his knowledge**-**loving friend so soon. He also knew, from experiences with his Aunt, that women tended to get very violent in situations like this. Frankly, it scared him.

Smiling, she nodded and continued the conversation, happy to fall into a natural banter with her best friend, glad that he was at least somewhat willing to learn with her.

XXXXXX

Hermione smiled as she and Harry strolled out of The Leaky Cauldron, now intending to do her shopping and meet up with the third member of their trio, Ron Weasley.

The pair happily traversed the old, brick pathway, shoulders swerving sideways to avoid the other inhabitants of this busy area.

"I promised Ron that we would meet him at Flourish and Blotts, is that alright?" Was the question from the dark-haired boy, as he walked with countless eyes following him and his world-renowned scar.

"Oh, Harry, you know exactly what to say to a girl like me**,**" responded Teasing Hermione, giggling as she saw the poor boy blush.

Harry was thirteen now, and he had been...'thinking' about girls for over a year now. Hermione was a target of those thoughts, both for her proximity and personality. And who could blame him for having a crush on a girl like that? Those eyes of hers were lovely, as he so often thought.

Hermione, however, had no question that Harry hadn't given her looks so much as a second thought in his entire life, much to the genius Granger's anguish. Sadly, it was a mistake as rare as this that caused her to have such little faith in herself; bullying at school prior to the magical world had also reinforced this image to the bookworm of a girl.

Now arriving at the book store, Hermione happily lost herself into a novel on time-turners, while she directed Harry towards a wonderful book she had read, '_An Intermediate's Guide to Duelling and Defence_'; she hoped that it would excite him down a learner**'**s path as it had, last year, excited her to master shield and wall spells, which gave her some much needed peace of mind following her petrifaction.

However, the book she now held was far more interesting, far more useful to her in the following days. It was written by one 'H G Wells', a muggle that had stumbled onto the magical world, and explained the benefits, risks and paradoxes that could be created through the use of a time-turner, as well as the possibilities. Theoretically, it was possible to go back in time as far as you liked, as it was merely changing space. However, when that time came around again you would be much older and thus people would question you, making them suspicious.

Hermione continued to read, becoming steadily enraptured by this book that explained what she would soon be capable of, and her imagination began to run wild. A week spent in the library? The ability to visit her parents whenever she wanted? Never returning a book late? She giggled girlishly at this opportunity, until the thought came to mind, crushing her fantasy.

She had promised McGonagall that she would only use it for the classes that needed it, nothing else.

Sighing, she returned to the book, now slightly less enthused as she waited for Ron.

Harry, simultaneously, was finding the book that Hermione had pointed him towards very interesting, which was odd considering that he usually despised book-reading. Well, the books that he had read... which were always books either forced upon him by school, or...

When had he ever _chosen _to read a book? School books didn't count, as those were forced upon him, and simply the nature of why he was reading them turned him off, as well as Ron's idea that reading books was a waste of time. The Dursleys HAD often stopped him from reading fiction, unless they could see that he couldn't survive in school without the book. So, as he thought about it, he realised that besides from perhaps one or two at Hogwarts, he had never read a book by choice.

Oh well. He had gone this far without them and he was fine, wasn't he? He got acceptable, sometimes above average, sometimes excellent grades at school. But that was only for things like exams where he actually tried. During the year he wasn't anything exceptional, nothing like Hermione. Was it important?

And then it came crashing down on him that perhaps it was, that the two years he had survived against Voldemort, and weakened forms of him, it had been mainly by luck and other people's assistance that he had survived. And now that he had a serial killer after him, it was even more essential that he learnt! Perhaps, this year, he would strive to learn with Hermione, but only if –

"Harry! Hermione!"

Both named magicals looked up from their books, smiling to see their friend, Ron Weasley, having finally arrived. Returning the brilliant books to their shelves, Hermione and Harry, whom had lost his train of thought, ran over and embraced the third member of their trio, glad to see the red head.

XXXXXX

After purchasing Ron's second hand books and some food for Scabbers, the trio made their way**,** slowly, enjoying one another's company, to the room that Harry had rented. Harry chuckled as Ron's tired body slumped onto the bed, and Hermione and he made their way to the small, wooden chairs that were the room's only furniture. Smiling, Hermione tipped her chair back against the wall, content to listen to her male friends**'** banter; talking of Quidditch, of Wizards Chess, of school and all things that males talk about that are meaningless.

That was, until Ron asked a stupid question, as he was wont to do.

"So, Harry, what's got you holed up in this dump? Don't you have to stay with the Dursleys over the summer? Seeing as they are family and all, isn't there that... guardianship thing?"

Hermione was hoping that Harry would either answer or his uncomfortable appearance would ward off Ron's probing.

With her eyes closed, hearing silence, she assumed that Harry was uncomfortable yet again and tried to save her famous friend.

"So, Harry, any idea who this year's new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher will be?"

Opening her eyes, she could noticeably see Harry loosen up at the question, thankful to be saved by his friend.

"Well, I sure hope it isn't Snape, the old git would –"

"Bloody hell Hermione; don't go interrupting me and Harry! Learn some social manners, girl**,**" rudely interrupted Ron, unaware of how idiotic and ironic his statement was.

"Excuse me, Ronald, but I could clearly—"

"Hermione, it's okay, I guess I should let you guys know what happened**,**" interrupted Harry, not wanting the tension in the room to escalate any further. "Well, my 'Aunt' Marge was over, and, well... she made me angry, so I accidently used magic to turn her into a... well, sort of a balloon. I was sure that the ministry was going to expel me but thankfully –"

For the third time, someone in the room was interrupted. This time, it was by Ron's laughing at his friend**'**s antics, despite the worry that was clearly written on Harry's face.

"Ron! That isn't funny! Can't you see that this is not something that Harry's proud of?!"

"But it's brillian'! It's absolutely, stark raving brillian'! How can this not be funny to you, Hermione?"

Appalled by Ron's complete lack of tact, as well as his inability to understand the possible magnitude of the situation, coupled with a desire to protect Harry, one that was strangely desperate, she then stood up and made her way out of the room, following promising that she would "See them in two days for school".

The boys in the room were left in shocked silence, and Harry felt extremely torn. Feeling as though a huge part of him was suddenly missing, he decided to call it a night.

"Blimey... what's her problem mate?" questioned the clueless Red-head, following the cliché that was his character.

"You know what Ron? I'm quite tired, I think I'll call it a day," responded Harry through gritted teeth, suddenly feeling actual pain, which confused him. Despite his attempts he couldn't quite place the pain, but it felt like his stomach or heart.

Confused at his friend's sudden change in actions Ron simply nodded and left, going off to Floo back to The Burrow.

XXXXXX

That night, while tossing and turning in his bed, Harry's body jerked and shuddered in pain that he couldn't explain, but to attribute his physical pain to the turmoil in his group of friends.

Thankfully, the next morning, he was all better and blaming it on bad food, or the like**s**.

XXXXXX

The first day of school finally arrived, and the trio of Gryffindor's arrived at Platform Nine and Three Quarters with smiles on their young faces, both Ron and Hermione excited to see Harry.

With a sad smile, Hermione embraced her parents outside the magical wall, not looking forward to spending even more time away from heradored mother and father, whom she loved dearly. They had always supported her, and were amazing when it came to allowing her stay in the clearly and absurdly dangerous school that was Hogwarts.

As she turned to leave, Hermione noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a large group of red-heads making their way towards her. Remembering her encounter with the abrasive Ron only a few days earlier and was yet to gain any form of closure with him; so, not wishing to bother with him, she made her way quickly through the gate, into the wonderful wizarding world.

Her senses were suddenly ablaze; freshly evaporated steam, a smell that soon permeated her nose as she smiled and peered onto a sight that she always loved, one that she fantasised about seeing throughout the entire summer: the busy crowd of students, congregating with their parents towards the train, miserable and exciting like the departure gate of an airport.

Her school robes flowing behind her, Hermione began searching for her best friend, Harry, which turned out to be a fairly simple task**,** just follow the hushed whispers of first years, seeing the fabled boy-who-lived for the first time.

It always helped that when searching for a celebrity you were never alone.

"Hermione! Over here!" Came a cry from behind her, Harry's voice recognizable enough above the tumultuous noise of the other students.

Smiling, Hermione turned around and embraced Harry, happy to see him again.

"Have you been studying these past few days?" She questioned, hopeful that the book had inspired him.

Much to her delight, he nodded in reply.

"Yup! I've learnt a few spells, at least in theory, and we can go over them with each otheron the train, just so that you can give me a few pointers, alright?"

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Hermione was thrilled, and proceeded to drag him onto the train, much to his surprise.

The two passed a few full, lively compartments filled with first years. Inside the compartments they couldn't help but stare at the most famous teenager in the wizarding world, and feel jealousy over the girl who seemed to drag him with that feral grin.

As they passed compartments filled with older females, they couldn't help but to speculate at why the two were alone and grinning so much, theories of a couple sparking up as absurd rumours often did. This 'factual' news soon passed around the compartments, and soon the entire train was abuzz with the new romantic pairing, much to the jealousy of more than a few fame-hungry women.

Harry and Hermione, however, soon sat down in the first compartment available, to hell with the stranger that was asleep inside**,** and Hermione demanded that he show her what he could do.

"I'm not sure if I can do any of these yet, you know," responded Harry to her mental prodding, "And we should keep it down! The old guy's sleeping..."

Hermione looked at him properly for the first time, taking in the strange, rough, unshaven man who was clearly not a member of the student body. Gazing up at the man's open suitcase**,** she noted the piles of books, specifically the textbook that third years were covering this year in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"Ah! He must be our new DADA teacher, seeing as Professor Lockhart was a fraud. I hope he's not as useless as the last two..." spoke Hermione out of realisation.

Well, he looks a bit rough and haggard, she thought. Probably be an... interesting teacher.

"Oh, in that case, maybe he wouldn't mind if we practiced. Seeing as it would be his subject and all," hoped Harry.

Receiving a nod from the bushy mess of hair that was his brilliant friend, Harry then flicked his wand in an arc and muttered '_Protego_' putting a fair amount of mental energy behind it.

To his happy surprise a small, silver bubble of energy began to form on the tip of his wand, before it popped, loudly.

"Ah, if I may," came a voice from behind Harry, that startled him**,** "but your wand movement needs to be slowed. Now, try it again."

A little surprised at the new Defence teacher**,**s sudden suggestion, Harry attempted to follow this instruction, once again speaking the words '_Protego_'. However, he was this time rewarded by a small bubble that lasted approximately twenty seconds before fizzling out.

"Well done, young man! That is a very tricky spell to pull off, and many ministry officials are incapable. I must admit, I am quite impressed Mr...?"

"Potter, sir. Harry Potter."

The teacher's eyes widened at hearing the name, finally looking into Harry's face.

"Oh my," he began, "well, I must say it is an honour. My name is Remus Lupin, and I will be teaching you this year, as you sadly require yet another teacher in that role. And your name is...?" Lupin directed at Hermione, not wishing to be rude.

"Hermione Granger, Professor Lupin. I'm one of Harry's friends, and I'm very excited to learn from you this year!" Came the knowledge addict's reply.

Lupin recognized the name, and upon closer inspection**,** noticed the silver necklace around her neck, clearly showing her to be the time-turner girl.

"Ah, Miss Granger, it is an honour. And what a lovely necklace you are wearing today**,**" he said with a wink, causing her to blush.

Harry, oblivious to the gift that Hermione had been given, merely assumed that Lupin was complementing his friend out of politeness.

"Now, Mr Potter, if you wouldn't mind going over that spell one more time? To truly master it**,** you must be able to hold it for at least a minute. You too, Miss Granger."

Lupin had been rather excited to teach this year, and was over the moon at teaching his former best friends**'** son so soon, as well as the Granger girl who, if what the other teachers had said was true, was something of a genius amongst her peers.

XXXXXX

Ron Weasley had spent a fair bit of time searching for Harry, but sadly that damned Granger had gone and taken him all to herself. What'd he ever do to her? She was just being a typical, stupid female; he didn't expect any better of her.

So he'd just sit on the train with Neville, Dean, the usual Gryffindor students. It wasn't so bad, but he had never particularly enjoyed spending time with them. Harry was the only person he was really interested in, and Hermione because he had to have some female company. Still, they weren't bad blokes these guys, all of them happy to just lazily sit and chat as they watched the scenery pass by.

He'd sort things out with Hermione at school, everything would be back to normal then.

XXXXXX

Hermione was absolutely loving the train ride with her new teacher; it seemed to both show Harry the benefits of learning, and was developing her skills as a witch! And what more could she want than to spend time with her best friend while doing something that she, and hopefully he too, loved doing: learning!

They had finished working on the _Protego _spell for now, and were covering spells such as _Expelliarmus_, and other basic spells. Lupin had also explained to them what he planned to cover this year, specifically dark, magical creatures and how best to deal with them. To her, it honestly sounded like a wonderful time, as she had, to date, learnt nothing on the subject.

Now that she thought about it**,** she couldn't help but cringe at her inability to read '_The Monster Book of Monsters__'_, being the only course of the year that she had not touched upon.

Ah well, she was comfortable to sit in the same ignorance in a single subject, putting her in the same boat as everyone else.

Suddenly, the train came to a halt.

"We certainly can't be there yet," exclaimed the Professor, looking bewildered.

As Hermione gazed outside at the scenery, she noticed that they were in the middle of nowhere, and that dark clouds seemed to be forming overhead.

"I think I'll go speak to the driver..." pondered Lupin, now making his way out of the compartment, wand drawn.

Harry and Hermione merely looked at one another, suddenly feeling cold and clammy, as though the world's happiness had been horribly drained by some unknown force.

Gazing out the window once more, Harry and she noticed a few shadowy figures making their way onto the train. Suddenly, the world felt even worse.

Scared, completely unaware of what these dark creatures were, Hermione soon found her arm clamped tightly around Harry's.

Her breath was becoming visible, the room growing cold, the windows beginning to frost, Hermione unable to stop her teeth from chattering due to the sudden change in climate.

"Harry... W-What's going on?" Hermione questioned, internally pleading that her friend would somehow know more than she.

Harry was unable to respond, as he could suddenly see horrific images that had plagued his nightmares since he was a baby. In his mind, he could see his mother pleading, begging Voldemort to let a small baby live, he could see her die!

Hermione, on the other hand, saw the dark creature that had entered their carriage and was frozen in fear. As it began to descend on harry, she attempted to distract it by throwing hexes, only to find that they passed right through the horrible creatures shadowy body.

'_Think, Hermione! That's what you're good at, how on earth are you going to get out of this situation if you don't think?! If only Lupin was here__**,**_' she thought to herself, before having a sudden, joyous epiphany.

The bushy haired girl stood, braced herself, and dove straight through the creature, spinning back the larger hand on her time-turner by a single minute, coming out the other side to a slightly warmer climate.

Getting to her feet she began to rush towards where she assumed Professor Lupin had gone, hoping to catch him and warn him of Harry's danger in the future.

Due to the perilous nature of the situation she had no time to recognize that she, Hermione Granger, had just travelled through time.

Racing through carriages, making her way towards the head of the train she finally spotted the Professor and cried after him.

"Professor Lupin, you must come now! Harry will be in danger from those creatures if you don't help him!"

Lupin, trusting the girl who had shown herself to be bright, turned and ran after her, making his way in his tatty clothing to where he had previously spent time with his new students.

The two arrived just in time to see Hermione dive through the creature and disappear, impressing Lupin. But, with no time to applaud the quick thinking of the girl, Lupin raised his long wand and screamed "_Expecto Patronum_!" at the creature, followed by a rapid, white spectre leaving his wand and charging into the happiness sucking demon, saving poor Harry.

Hermione broke into tears out of sheer relief.

XXXXXX

Cold and shivering, Harry slowly opened his eyes to see a beautiful, albeit slightly odd looking girl staring down at him, holding what seemed to be a bar of chocolate in her hand. Gazing into her big, smiling eyes he couldn't help but question if the creature had killed him and sent him off to heaven.

"W-Where am... I?" He asked hoarsely, his throat dry after such a horrible ordeal, his back dripping with sweat excreted out of fear and effort to simply stay alive.

"Why, where are any of us?" The pretty blonde girl replied, dreamily, her voice thick with Irish overtones.

Harry had no choice but to blink, and he happily accepted the bar of chocolate that she handed him, her eyes commanding him to eat.

"Quickly now, we don't want shock to set in. Chocolate has a way of brightening the world around you, something the Dementors just cannot stand."

Harry stayed silent, simply biting into the delicious bar and looking around, finally noticing both his best friend, Hermione, and his new teacher, Professor Lupin. Well, those two and a rather large crowd, all were crowding around the fallen body of the school**'**s celebrity.

"Uh, hey Hermione, what happened?" Harry questioned, worried about the redness around her eyes that indicated she had been crying.

"Oh Harry, the Dementors tried to 'kiss' you, something they do to suck out your soul... it was horrible..."

Harry was stunned into silence, realizing just how close he had come to death, and so early on in the year.

"She's quite right, Potter," began Lupin, "and if it weren't for your friend Hermione's quick thinking, I'm afraid you would've most probably been... lost."

Harry was simply able to smile at the girl, continuing to munch on the chocolate that the blonde was forcing towards his mouth.

"And Luna here, who is so kindly providing you with one of the medicines that help fight the presence of the Dementors, is someone you should also be grateful to. Somehow, she managed to wake you up from your deep slumber, one that has claimed the lives of many others."

"Oh, it was nothing at all, Professor. If one knows quite where to look, they will see just where to sing to one that is Partially Kissed. Why, I believe the Quibbler published a small guide on it only a year ago."

Harry could not help but to stare at the blonde, Luna, he believed was her name. She had been a welcome sight to wake up to, and it seemed she had saved his life, in part.

Hermione, who had been keeping her distance from what she prayed and hoped would not soon become a corpse, let go of herself once again and pounced on her poor friend, tears threatening to spill as she hugged his lanky body.

"Oh Harry, this is the second time that you've had me thinking you could have died! We're only thirteen you stupid boy... always getting yourself into unnecessary trouble... it's enough to make a girl go insane with worry!"

Harry couldn't help but to chuckle, somehow knowing that this would not be the last time that he heard his poor, suffering friend make a speech like this at his expense and simply hugged her back.

Lupin, sensing that the crowd was a little too curious, forced them to disperse and left Harry, Luna and Hermione alone in the compartment. He then began making his way to the front of the train, from which he intended to message Dumbledore, desperate to know how this boy who was so universally important could be put at risk.

XXXXXX

Finishing Notes: Well, thanks for reading! I expect to write a chapter every week or two, but seeing as it's nearly Christmas time, I may not get out as many until after the New Year.

Thanks again!


	2. Bright Yellow Socks

The Temptations of a Time**-**Turness

By Falling Skywards

Chapter 2: Bright Yellow Socks

Authors Notes: Infinite thanks to Paladeus, a fellow writer, who has been both an inspiration in his fantastic stories and a brilliant friend, AND an excellent beta! You guys should check out his stories, they're fantastic, especially if you like Lunar Harmony (H/Hr/L).

Also, before you read note that class schedule is slightly AU.

XXXXXX

Under the cover of cold darkness, Hagrid, in a school carriage, drove Hermione and Harry towards the school, racing forwards from the other students, leaving Lupin to chaperone them on the way to the school.

Harry, who currently felt freezing to the touch despite objections claiming otherwise, was slumped against Hermione's shoulder. Tiredness had crept in next to the darkness and it felt like such a comfortable spot. Smelled good too, he thought.

Hermione, however, felt rather morose about the situation, a strange worry and desperation to do something, to save her friend having entered her. Sadly, knowing no spells of healing, she was forced to simply sit next to the boy who lived and try to keep him comfortable. Running through her mind, despite intentions to remove it, was the thought 'I have to save Harry's life, stop him from dying.'

Suddenly, she felt a flash of memory, quite probably from one of her many books. She recalled a warming charm, and muttered the incantation with a wave of her wand, now partially satisfied.

Harry smiled at his friend's attempt, he too suddenly recalling the spell as if he had forgotten it from some far off dream. He slowly sat up, now sufficiently comfortable due to the red glow that flowed around his body.

The two remained silent for the duration of the journey, occasionally meeting eyes, never speaking. At least, thought the bushy one, the silence was rather comfortable.

XXXXXX

As Harry lay comfortably in the back seat of the carriage, he and Hermione suddenly felt it come to a stop.

"We're 'ere, Harry," came Hagrid's gruff, loving voice from the front.

They then heard the large man leap from the front seat of the carriage, followed by him opening the door and lifting Harry over his shoulder.

"'Ermione, you go tell Professor Dumbledore what's what, alright?"

"Sh-Sure thing, Hagrid," she stammered before hopping out of the vehicle and beginning the long walk up to his office.

"The password is Cockroach Clusters!" He yelled from behind her, hoping for Harry's sake that she heard him. Dumbledore would know just how to get Harry right again. Dumbledore always knew.

And so he took off in a fast sprint towards the hospital wing of the school, hoping that Pomona Pomfrey would be able to look after the poor boy until Dumbledore arrived.

Harry could have complained, currently feeling like a rather abused football, simply took what Hagrid was doing with a smile, not wanting to hurt his friend after what was a kind gesture. Perhaps the Hospital Wing could remove that damn shudder he had, despite how warm he felt.

However, when Hagrid nearly dropped him while climbing a moving flight of stairs, he had no choice but to ask to walk.

XXXXXX

Madame Pomfrey met the two at the door, immediately hailing Harry to an empty bed and immediately prescribing the poor child countless medicines and prescriptions.

_'All of which would no doubt taste horrible'_, Harry thought.

Sighing, he took in the magical potions and concoctions he was spoon fed, all the while feeling rather odd at Hagrid's insistence to remain behind and simply stare at him, at least until Dumbledore arrived.

The time passed fairly quickly as he lay there, receiving the typical questions one gets from a nurse. _'Honestly, why don't they simply take a record of these things'_, questioned Harry, rather annoyed at having to answer the same questions for the umpteenth time.

Soon, Dumbledore arrived, dressed in a rather eccentric robe, followed by Hermione who had worry plastered all over her face.

From behind his glorious, snow-white beard, Dumbledore began talking to his Golden Gryffindor, Harry. "Harry, please tell me the events that occurred while on the Hogwarts Express. Miss Granger has, already, given me her view on the events, and will be awarded for her bravery and quick thinking," Hermione blushed at this compliment, " but I believe your views would help us to understand this rather worrying situation."

Harry smirked, wondering if he had rehearsed this speech on his way to the Hospital Wing, due to its length.

"Well Professor, it all happened rather quickly, I think. The train suddenly stopped while me and Hermione were getting some pointers from Professor Lupin," Harry continued to explain to the headmaster, who simply nodded and accepted this knowledge.

"Very well Harry, I do believe that will be all for now," Dumbledore began**.** "I shall, most definitely be talking to Fudge about this; foolish man that he is. Pomona, will Harry be able to join in tonight's festivities? It is always disappointing to miss the Sorting."

Hopeful, Harry looked into the Magical Nurse's eyes, having only attended sorting in the first year.

Sighing, she shook her head. "Best not to risk his going into shock, Headmaster. Wish I could change that, but it's my job to look out for him."

Hermione's face fell, not looking forward to sitting alone at the dinner table. Ron certainly wasn't going to apologize, otherwise he would have made an attempt on the train ride. No, she'd most likely eat in silence before going to bed for the evening, she decided.

"Very well then, Pomona. See to it that he is taken care of," ordered Dumbledore, his robe flowing as he departed to attend the Great Feast and make his speech for the start of the year. Harry swore he could see the old man muttering to himself, probably preparing yet another speech.

"Aye, Harry, I best be going too," spoke Hagrid, "I have an... announcement, of sorts, to make."

Smiling, Harry wished him the best of luck.

With a sad sniff, Hermione leaned over the dark-haired boy, hugging him. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, alright? You get better now!"

Harry winced, knowing that she would be upset if he didn't meet her the next day. And he couldn't help but stare as she walked out; wagging that cute little bum that he had enjoyed so much. Surprised at his own thought, he realized that he must have been dreaming. He'd hardly even noticed it until now, let alone like that.

Disregarding the thought, Harry rolled over in his bed and tried to fall asleep.

XXXXXX

"_I'm not sure we're meant to put it in there, Harry!" yelled Hermione, the two of them seemingly alone in the chamber of secrets, trying to figure out this puzzle of body parts._

_Draping her legs around Harry's, Luna wiggled her feet from within her bright yellow socks. Harry smiled sultrily, intently listening as she opened her mouth._

"Wake up now, Harry, dreaming has never helped people to figure things out."

The green-eyed boy opened his eyes and was startled to see, by the light of candle she was holding, Luna Lovegood.

The forever dreamy girl, who had just asked him to leave his rather mentally scarring dream, simply smiled at him, once again holding a bar of chocolate to his face.

"I really must insist that we stop meeting as you come out of unconsciousness, Mr. Potter, it could make any girl think that you weren't actively trying to see her."

He couldn't help but marvel at the girl, but sat up with a half smile, accepting the chocolate. Looking around the room, he noticed two things. One, that it was pitch black outside, clearly showing that it was night. Secondly, that there was already another student in the Hospital Wing, which was truly a marvel and testament to the insanity of the chaotic wizarding world.

"Well, sorry Luna, it's just that you keep sneaking up on me. Uh, what are you doing here though? It's past curfew, you should be in bed," whispered the scarred boy.

With laughter like an adorable toddler, Luna smirked and replied, "Of course not, the nearby Mujina (1) would let me know about that. Seem to follow Madam Pomfrey around... I bet she was in Hufflepuff," mused Luna, all the while confusing Harry.

Still, as the girl who had partially saved his life, he was happy to let it slide and took another bite out of the chocolate.

"So, what're you doing here, Luna?"

"I'm here to make sure that you get enough chocolate to stave off any further attacks from the Dementor that's after you, of course."

Harry made a double take. He... he was being hunted, by a Dementor? A creature that was corporeal and almost impossible to destroy? How would he survive the year, hunted by two extremely powerful monsters? Both Sirius Black, a wanted Death Eater and known killer, as well as a creature that would easily devour his soul?

_'Oh joy,'_ thought Harry.

"Well, thanks Luna. If the chocolate can help ward off the creepy creatures, then it's a huge help to me," he smiled. "You wouldn't happen to know of any other ways to keep them away? 'Cause everything helps, you know."

"Well, some say that being miserable all the time helps, but Dementors enjoy misery just as much as happiness. It's probably because they're already depressed that they feel the Dementors don't affect them... but the universally agreed way to fight a Dementor, or Lethifold, is with a Patronus charm. Perhaps ask Lupin? His Patronus saved you."

Oddly, Luna then twirled on the tips of her feet causing Harry to look at her bright yellow socks.

Yawning and smiling, Harry said "Well, good night Luna. Thank you, again, for all your help. And it's good to see you're still wearing those lovely bright yellow socks."

The two then made a puzzled look at the comment, not entirely sure how Harry knew she always wore them.

With a wave of her hand, Luna glided out of the room leaving Harry his chance to sleep.

XXXXXX

A single ray of light shone down into the Ravenclaw girls' dormitories, creeping through the sheets of the schoolgirls like an infestation of warmth. A certain blonde found the heat to be slightly uncomfortable and awoke with a smile. Deciding that the other side of the bed was, today, the wrong side, she slipped out of her comfortable sheets and rolled straight onto the floor, bright yellow socks first.

As she donned her robes, she instinctively knew that today would be a rather pleasant day, especially after she made a friend last night. Smiling, she skipped down the stairs, merrily humming to herself as she exited the Ravenclaw common room.

She wondered how Hermione was enjoying the new books and decided to make her way towards the girl who owed her gratitude, even though Luna only saw her as a new friend.

'_Wow,_ she thought. _**'**__In only_ _one night_, _I've managed to befriend the most powerful and the brightest magicals in this school!'_

The girl couldn't help but smile. For all of her insane exterior, her loopy surface, she was clearly a lonely child. Any normal twelve year old girl, with the magic of hormones, would be rather depressed with such a lonely existence. However, Luna's shield of insanity, her ability to distract herself into obscurity, had thus far proven to be a good shield.

No shield was invincible, however, and she needed people around her, people to love her just as much as anyone else.

XXXXXX

From inside the Gryffindor female's dormitories, Hermione Granger woke up following a rather lonely night. For the most part, it had not been a bad one. Simply one where she realized how reliant on Harry she was.

She really had no other friends but Ron, and remembering last night in the Great Hall was causing her to reconsider how much of a strain using that title was.

_Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table, swishing her robes beneath her daintily._

_There was a small murmur of polite greeting as she sat down. Ginny Weasley, ever a Potter fan girl, immediately asked "is Harry alright?"_

_Internally rolling her eyes, despite her own worry, Hermione faked a smile and replied simply with "yes, Madame Pomfrey is taking care of him."_

_She continued to engage in light conversation with her housemates but was unable to feel as though she was either necessary or a major part of the group discussion._

_Finally, the headmaster stood before the student body, silencing the crowd almost immediately. '_Good to see that they respect him as much as I do,' _she thought._

"_Students of the four houses, I welcome you to another wonderful year at Hogwarts; one that shall hopefully hold none of the terror that we were plagued to face last year. Now," he began with his trademark twinkle, "we shall begin the sorting!"_

_As the school song began, Hermione noticed Ron running into the Great Hall. Assuming that he had just come from the Hospital Wing, she smiled and nodded at him before joining in with the singing._

_Puzzled at her suddenly lightened mood, but assuming that he would never understand the fairer sex, he too joined the school song._

_Hermione's mind raced as she attempted to memorize the faces of the new students. In such a small school, it was sort of embarrassing not to know everyone's names, and embarrassment was one of her worst nightmares._

_Eventually, the sorting came to a close as the new students joined their tables to huge welcome from who would be their housemates over the next five years. Hermione remembered, with a frown, how scared and lonely she had been that night._

"_Now students," began Dumbledore, "__this__ year shall no doubt be an excellent one! The magical world will flourish because of you students. And, despite the rumour going around, I promise that I will not eat any of the children. Let the feast begin!"_

_A few faces were confused at his last statement, and a few blushed at being somehow caught out, while the others simply dug into to feast that appeared before them, magically._

_Smiling at Ron, who she assumed had gone to see Harry; she began conversation with him, considering this ample apology for how he had acted above the Leaky Cauldron._

"_So, Ron, how was Harry? Was he glad to see you?"_

_The red-head looked bewildered at this statement, wondering where on earth Hermione had got that idea from. "What are you on about, Hermione? I haven't been to see him!"_

"_But... But Ronald, you were late to dinner! Where else would you have gone?!"_

_Hermione was, frankly, startled and appalled at her __friend's__complete__ lack of sympathy or care for the one good friend that he 'had'._

"_I was off getting mum's special sauce for the meat! Not visiting Harry in the bloody Hospital Wing, I'd miss dinner if I went out that far!"_

_Hermione _Could Not Believe _the idiotic fallacy spewing out of the Weasley's mouth. How could someone not want to visit Harry in __the__ hospital? To her, he meant the entire world! He was the closest friend, the nicest guy that she had ever had the pleasure of knowing! And this stupid... annoying... male! He had the tenacity to choose some type of dinner sauce __over__ him? _

"_Ron Weasley, you annoying, petulant, fame-seeking, horrible-excuse-for-a-friend; how DARE you not visit Harry after he nearly died, acting as though __your__ stomach was more important than your best friend!"_

_Ron was, by this statement, utterly confused. "But... but I didn't... what?"_

"_Oh, Ron, you're a lost cause. Forget it! I'm going to bed."_

_And with that, Hermione Granger stormed off, many eyes were following her; others glaring at Ron. Naturally, she was in the right here, Ron being a completely insensitive idiot. But who could expect any more of him?_

Sighing as she recalled the scene, one that had threatened her to spill tears; she made her way out of the dormitory and out of the common room, knowing that it held nothing special for her.

Having showered the previous night, she decided to make her way to down to the Great Hall, following a route that would let her pass the library on the way down.

Before she came even within twenty feet of the room, she could smell the smell she had long craved.

New books!

That smell, the smell of fresh pages, of unabsorbed knowledge, knowledge that could easily be all hers if only she had the time to spend on the books.

_'Well, maybe a quick peek at the titles,'_ she thought.

Making her hurried way into the library, greeting the strict, book loving librarian on her way in she smiled as she felt she was back at home. Making her way to the shelf marked 'New Books', she was happy to see books that she had never even heard of.

Tips for Transfiguration, Better Choreography in Charms and All-Round Wand Movement to name a few titles, new information on Hogwarts, biographies on Aurors, beginner advice on alchemy, it all looked so tantalising to her!

But, of course, she only had time to read the blurbs of the books before making her way to the door. _'Damn it, if only I was allowed to use to use the Time-Turner for things other than educational,'_ she thought.

_'But this IS educational,' _a darker side of her mind thought, the one that would do most anything for the knowledge they both craved.

_'Well, I suppose it is, but I can't see Dumbledore or McGonagall agreeing with me on that...' _the rational, more typical Hermione responded.

She was used to internal monologues like this, ever since she had hung around Harry and Ron they had been more and more frequent, often giving into the dark side of herself, often finding herself coming out in better situations than when she began.

Also, it seemed as though every time that she broke the rules it was either with Harry, or for Harry's sake, having absolutely no trouble doing so. Perhaps she could protect him better with this knowledge.

And so, for the first time that she could remember, Hermione broke the rules of her own accord, disregarding her previous promises. Thankfully, they had not been magically binding as that was somewhat frowned upon with minors.

Reaching up to the chain that hung around her neck, she intended to turn backwards three hours then and there, but felt eyes pushing into her back.

Knowing that Madam Pince would question her sudden disappearance, especially as a third year, she made her way out of the library and hopped into a randomly placed broom cupboard, hurriedly turning back the hands exactly three hours.

XXXXXX

She closed her eyes and stood perfectly still for a minute, hoping to feel some magical change in the air around, or within, her.

Sadly, nothing came.

Perhaps McGonagall and Dumbledore had cast some charm on it so that she couldn't use it against their wishes?

Sighing, she hopped out of the cupboard, her eyes immediately used to the pitch black hallway.

Startled by the sudden change, she looked around and realized that she had travelled back, three hours prior, to the very early morning.

Excitedly, she ran into the library once again and began reading a book on enchanting, seeing as it was enchanted to give off its own light, almost as if calling to her.

XXXXXX

Deeply immersed, her nose almost touching the spine of the book, Hermione Granger had been reading up on enchantment**s** for almost two hours now and was fully intending on continuing. That was until she suddenly felt someone sit on her shoulder.

Startled, Hermione immediately found trouble in articulating a response to this inappropriate action.

"Wha... wha?" Was all that Hermione could manage, simply out of her shock and confusion**,** losing her ability to speak. 

"That looks like quite a lovely book, Hermione. But are you certain that you should be here? If you woke at seven thirty and you've been up for just over two hours, shouldn't classes have started?"

Even further confused by this newcomer with an almost familiar voice, Hermione looked up at the blonde girl that was smirking on her shoulder and bit her lower lip, afraid of the trouble that could be brewed for her.

"I... I suppose you know then?"

"Oh, I believe I know many things, such as Professor Flitwick actually being a goblin, attempting to topple the wizarding world from the inside. But was that what you were asking about?"

Internally, Luna Lovegood was smirking at her ability to confuse and distract people with her eccentricity, but her exterior showed only curiosity.

"No, I mean that I have a... well, a time-turner," replied Hermione, now looking at the girl**'**s face without so much fear and recognizing one of Harry's saviours. "You're the girl from the train yesterday, aren't you? Luna, wasn't it? And how did you know that I had time-turned...ed?"

"Yes, I presumed as much; yes I was that girl; yes that is my name; and on that matter, I can't say. Probably another mystical creature that always seems to be telling me these things," said Luna with a sigh.

"Well, I just really want to thank you for what you did for Harry yesterday. Without you, he could have never woken up, right?"

"Oh no, he's Harry Potter. He would have woken up eventually, even if somebody had to force consciousness out of him."

"But you did help. And that means a lot to me, and I know for him too. It's always troubled me that the people who almost worship the floor he walks on would much rather stand and take photos than help him in need..."

"Naturally they just fall so entranced by how peaceful his unconscious body looks, don't you think?"

"Well, I suppose he is rather attra—hang on, excuse me?"

Luna simply laughed and stood off the girl**'**s shoulder, offering a hand to the older brunette.

"Luna Lovegood," she said with a smile, "pleased to become a life-long friend."

"Hermione... Hermione Granger" replied the aforementioned girl, slightly cautious about the prospect, "pleased to receive such a... warm, excited offer."

Suddenly, Luna wanted to squeal at the irony, despite not knowing why. So, in good Loopy Luna fashion, she let out a squeal and dragged Hermione towards the Hospital Wing, sure to find something interesting, so long as Harry was around.

XXXXXX

Harry stretched his arms, yawning, as he made his way out of the hospital bed, limbering up his tired body after a sore night in an uncomfortable, uncharmed cot.

It had been a rather restless night, he not being able to sleep after his interesting encounter with Luna, and was looking forward to starting school, before his stomach rumbled.

Right after breakfast, it seemed.

Getting dressed, hopefully in a way that Madam Pomfrey couldn't see, Harry was surprised to hear the door opening and the sound of two footsteps making their way in.

"Harry! You're awake! Oh, good this means I don't have to frighten you again!"

"Hey there, Luna! And no, please don't. That was a little bit of a surprise the first time, the second time would probably be worse."

Especially if it was another dream like the one last night, he thought to himself.

"Well, how are you feeling, Harry? I hope you're ready to start school. We have Defence with Lupin first!" Said Hermione.

That thought excited Harry, eagerly ready to learn more from the man who had already taught him a few things, such as the _Protego _charm.

"Yeah, I'm feeling just fine! Shall we go to the Great Hall for breakfast then?"

Nodding and smiling, Luna locked arms with the two of them and began skipping towards the Great Hall.

Confused, although slightly charmed by their friend**'**s excitement, they joined in while chuckling and giggling.

XXXXXX

As they made their way into the Great Hall, they recognized the need to separate for breakfast, and each went to their house tables, no longer skipping.

Hermione and Harry sat in a gap between the second and fifth years, knowing that in the next few minutes the other third years would join them.

Deciding not to wait, Hermione and Harry dug into the food, Hermione especially hungry after being awake for so long.

"So," began Harry, swallowing a mouthful of toast, "did I miss anything important last night?"

Holding her hand in front of her mouth as not to be rude, Hermione replied**,** "not really, just the sorting and Dumbledore's speech; nothing too exciting."

Nodding sagely, Harry recognized that the opening feast was more of a time to catch up with friends than anything else, and was about to breach the subject of their red-headed friend when Neville Longbottom sat down across from them.

"Morning, Harry! Good to see that you're up and feeling better!" Said the slightly chubby boy excitedly**,** as was his fashion.

"Mornin', Neville. And yeah, I'm feeling much better than last night. How're you? Do anything interesting this summer?"

Harry and Neville, with occasionally Hermione, continued their conversation, others joining in as they made their way into the Great Hall. It was rather pleasant, and Harry enjoyed this homely feel that he had missed out on for the entirety of the summer, and was looking forward to another year of the same.

Without all the evil that comes with Voldemort, he hoped.

Eventually, Ron sat down with the group and refrained from speaking, glaring at Hermione, unnoticed by Harry who was currently talking to Seamus.

Hermione, on the other hand, noticed the boy immediately and rolled her eyes at how childish he was being, rather than confronting the issue and simply glaring at it.

Hoping Harry would be able to sort it out, she tapped him on the shoulder and pointed, with her eyes, in the direction of their friend.

The word still felt wrong to her.

Glancing in the direction that Hermione was indicating, Harry noticed Ron and sent him a smile.

"Morning, Ron! Why the grumpy face?"

Ron scowled, currently annoyed at Harry simply for association with Hermione.

Deliberately ignoring Harry's question, he began to cover his plate with food, inhaling it with his face down.

"Uh, what's his problem, Hermione?" Harry asked in a hushed tone, aiming not to upset his friend any further.

"Well, we had a little argument yesterday. He chose to go and get some type of dressing rather than see if you were alright, despite knowing full well that you had had a life-or-death situation." Hermione replied in a similar tone, despite hoping that Ron could hear her. Judging by how he flinched, she smirked, satisfied.

"Oh. Well, I suppose he should've come up, but it wasn't really that big of a deal to me."

Sighing, she replied "I know Harry, I know, but it was the principle of the matter that bugged me. And he hasn't even apologized for how he acted in your room above the Leaky Cauldron."

"Well, that was a bit rude, but I think I'll give him a little bit of time to get over himself, then have a little chat and sort this out. Alright?"

Smiling, Hermione replied**, "t**hat sounds good! I don't wish poorly towards him or anything. It's just he can be such a prat sometimes."

Chuckling, Harry just nodded and continued his breakfast with a nod.

XXXXXX

Finally done with his breakfast, Harry looked up and spotted Luna gesturing at him, something that made him feel as if he ought to come over.

Naturally, being a good friend, he told Hermione where he was going and that he would meet her in the DADA class if it took very long.

Smiling, she nodded and continued her rather boring conversation with Lavender Brown.

Harry paced over to Luna hurriedly, eager to hear what she had to say to him.

As he neared her, he suddenly noticed Malfoy and remembered that the blonde was going to start something. Spinning around to look at the git, he looked him dead in the eyes.

Malfoy, who had not been expecting this as he was yet to say anything, simply blinked in shock a few times, before regaining his composure.

"What is it, Potter?" He spat.

"Not a thing, Malfoy." Harry replied with an equal amount of disgust.

Turning back to his intention, now with any issue of Malfoy out of the way, he realized his issue.

How had he known that? Well, it was typical of something Draco would do. He probably just anticipated the actions of the predictable pureblood.

"Yes, Luna?" Harry asked, now back to the task at hand.

"I just remembered that I needed to give you some more chocolate. I forgot to this morning, and you need to stay protected."

He thanked her and smiled before making his way to the dormitories where he would get ready for the day's schooling.

XXXXXX

An hour later he was finished with his first class of the day and sitting next to Hermione, seeing as Ron refused to even make eye contact with the two of them.

Defence Against the Dark Arts had been a hugely enjoyable class that day, despite not actually doing anything. It had been more of a preview and discussion on what the year had in store for them, letting the students know that they would be learning to deal with different types of magical creatures, and possibly explaining how techniques for fighting them could be used against other magicians.

As the class was packing up, Lupin walked over to where Harry and Hermione were putting away their books and idly chatting, and began to talk.

"Harry, would you mind if I briefly spoke to you about a proposition? You too I suppose, Miss Granger."

Lupin had been talking with Professor Dumbledore over the night and had agreed with the old magician that the two needed to be taught extra information. Harry, because he was currently being hunted by two dark creatures, and Hermione because she was constantly under the same danger that Harry was.

Hermione would also be taught ways to use her time-turner, but that would be separate from Harry.

It would be physically taxing on the three of them, Lupin especially, but it was necessary. And for the son of his best friend, Remus was happy to oblige.

Leading the two students into his office, he sat them down and took a seat behind his desk.

"Well," he began grimly, "I suppose you already know what's coming after you, yes Harry?"

The boy in question nodded.

"Ah, that saves some time. Well, with both Sirius Black and a Dementor after you, you need far more training and skill in defending yourself than the typical third year. Hell, you need more training than any student at this school, seeing as there's very little danger now that Voldemort's gone. So, after talking with Dumbledore, we have decided to give the two of you extra lessons. Hermione, you are a part of this," he began noting her confusion, "because of your proximity to Harry. We would have invited Ron, but it seems that there has been a schism there? As soon as you patch that up Dumbledore has insisted that he join in too, if so he wishes."

Lupin paused as he remembered Dumbledore's insistence that Ron be invited too, despite Lupin's wishes otherwise. It was common knowledge that children who disliked each other learnt terribly, far more prone to brooding or bickering with one another.

Harry and Hermione were looking at one another excitedly, due to Hermione's addiction and Harry's love of the subject.

"Are you both willing? This would not count as credit towards schooling, but it may address things you would cover in the future."

The both replied with a solid, resounding "Yes!"

"Excellent," Lupin laughed, "I'll alert you two to when I'm first available sometime this week. Now, off to class with you!"

The two ran out of class excitedly, already looking forward to how this year would turn out.

XXXXXX

Mujina – A shape-shifting badger spirit, primarily in Japanese mythology. I chose it due to Pomfrey seeming, to me, like a 'Puff, their symbol being the badger.

Notes: Personally, I find always using Nargles and the Crumple-Horned Snorkack excuse for Luna's uniqueness to be a little unoriginal. That's not to say I dislike it, I'd just rather bring in a few other magical and mythical beasts instead. Perhaps you'll recognize them.

Also, would you guys prefer a time-skip here of about 8 weeks to try and get into the real substance of this story, or continue at the same pace I've been going at? Leave a review with your opinion, I'll write to suit as I'm happy either way.

New chapter should be out before next Sunday.

Please review, and thanks again for reading!


	3. Floating and Frolicking

The Temptations of a Time**-**Turness

By Falling Skywards

Chapter 3: Floating and Frolicking

Authors Notes: I managed to force this much out. Sorry about the long (understatement) delay. Hopefully I haven't lost any quality.

Thank you to anybody that reads this, the CaerAzkaban group that gave me quite a bit of encouraging a month or two back, despite having no interaction with them.

On with the show!

XXXXXX

Harry stretched his arms, excited at the prospect of a new day ahead of him. Only the day before he had received word from Lupin that he and Hermione would be having their sixth lesson today, the prospect hugely exciting to him.

The students had been back at school for only a week, and Harry was so far having a great time. With Hermione, and occasionally Luna, he had been catching up on work that he had neglected in past years. It wasn't a mad rush, there was no urgency behind it, but now that his relationship with Ron was strained, it was something easy to fill the time with.

And he was really enjoying Luna's company!

So, rolling over to get out of bed, he now noticed that Ron was glaring at him.

"Uh... Mornin', Ron. Sleep well?" He asked tentatively.

Nodding his head, Ron replied "yeah, not bad. Divination first today, isn't it?"

Somewhat disappointed at his realisation of their first class, Harry nodded in affirmation.

"Hm? What's up?" Asked Ron at this sign of dislike, surprisingly catching onto Harry's sour mood.

"Well, it's just that Hermi –" Harry stopped himself before he brought up the girl of Ron's dislike. "It's just that some people have been telling me about Ancient Runes and Arithmancy and... well, they sound like quite a bit of fun; rather than all this crap from Trelawney about my death, amongst other things."

To Ron, the idea of doing hard work like in the classes of Arithmancy and Ancient Runes was appalling, when he could easily slack off and relax!

He had never understood why his older brothers, like Fred and George, had always gone into subjects like that. Much easier to just sit back and go with the flow.

"But Care of Magical Creatures and Divination's easy, Harry! We could breeze through exams and NEWT's in these subjects, just by making things up! And Hagrid would never let you fail a course."

Harry felt torn. For two years that had been his thinking, he had agreed with Ron on this. But now he thought that learning magic, all magic, was fun. And the stuff that Hermione was doing sounded useful!

But he also knew that he might lose his friend if he didn't side with him here. And losing the boy that was his first ever friend was not something that he wanted to do.

"Yeah, I 'spose you're right, Ron. It is nice to be able to relax all the time."

Inwardly, as Harry made his way to the showers to get ready for the morning, Harry regretted giving in to this pressure.

XXXXXX

Sitting in Divination class, with Harry to her right and Ron on the other side of the table, Hermione rolled her eyes.

It was the usual garbage, the usual tripe being fed to the class from Professor Trelawney who was, clearly, insane. For a teacher, someone meant to create a conducive and hopefully happy learning environment, she was doing a terrible job. Today marked the third time that she predicted Harry's death, the 'Grim' constantly showing up in his tea leaves. To Hermione, it looked more like a hat than a dog.

Regardless, she couldn't wait to get out of this class and head to this morning's simultaneous Ancient Runes. They were currently going over markings around the world, ones that funnily enough, were charmed to gain the interest of muggles and accomplished nothing else; different markings and drawings that led people to insane conclusions of Armageddon, aliens or the supernatural.

Hermione herself had often shown interest in them before discovering this entire world of magic, but she'd never let any of her wizarding friends know that.

Suddenly she felt the presence of the teacher behind her, her breath that smelled of tea pushing against the back of her neck.

"You, Miss Granger, let me... read you."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione nodded without a word and let the haggard old 'seer' gaze into what she claimed was her unavoidable, and most likely, tragic future.

While the old lady stirred the leaves, muttering some incoherent gibberish to herself, Hermione began a silent conversation with Harry, attempting to gain his attention with her eyes.

Finally, Harry looked at her and noticed that she was attempting to show him, with her eyes, that the crazy lady next to her was just that: crazy; which is not exactly easy to do with one's eyes, so Harry was rather impressed and began to laugh a little, gaining the attention of Trelawney.

"Mr Potter, why on earth are you laughing? With a fate such as yours, clearly you must have seen something terrible in your future. And unless you are masochistic, this is no laughing matter!" Trelawney exclaimed, very sternly.

"Uh, no ma'am, it's just something that Ron said to me earlier." Harry replied, worried that he might get in trouble.

Thankfully, the redhead next to him nodded, abating her mood slightly.

Hermione, too, was looking out for her friend, seeing as she had caused this situation and attempted to bring the situation back to focus on her.

"Uh, Professor Trelawney? Do you see anything?"

Trelawney's eyes grew misty, her body becoming rigid as a wall. Her mouth slowly creaked open and her voice croaked out so quietly that only Hermione could hear.

"Mighty Time-Turness..." the decrepit seer whispered, "you shall truly become a defiant, a revolutionary and one greater and more powerful than could ever be expected. You shall lose your beloved rules, your beloved so-called 'facts' all for those that you love, they being few and far between.

Seemingly coming out of a trance, Trelawney loosened herself a bit to notice that the entire class was staring at her.

"Oh my..." the batty Divination professor began, "I must have dozed off. Oh well, back to reading your tea leaves my little seers!"

Hermione blinked a few times to take in what had been said to her, but her analytical mind merely shrugged it off in place of actually believing that such tripe could be related to her. Still... the way she had called been described as a 'Mighty Time-Turness' had given her a bit of a thrill, both due to the compliment and the inferred meaning that she would be using the time-turner a lot.

Regardless, she turned back to her work completely oblivious to the class being staring at the new 'prophecy girl'.

XXXXXX

Luna Lovegood skipped happily to breakfast a few days later, very glad of the pair she was going to see, they being Harry and Hermione.

Gryffindor had stopped caring that she now sat with them, resulting in her having comfortable company and no longer being bullied for being 'loony'.

Besides Harry and Hermione a boy named Neville had been especially kind to her, often chatting away to her.

Being three hours early, she spied Hermione sitting alone and decided to give her a bit of a scare. Walking up to the poor girl, silent as a feather floating to the floor, Luna whispered the levitation spell, wingardium leviosa, and began to lift Hermione, her table and the book that sat upon it.

Already smirking, Luna giggled aloud when she realised that Hermione was completely unaware that she was three or four meters above ground.

Bolting upright at the noise, Hermione looked around for the source and was shocked to discover that the room had shrunk.

Groaning she mocked the obvious culprit. "Good morning Luna, it is always so nice to see you so early. Although, I must say, you have gotten much smaller overnight. I suppose being as young as you are I can't really expect to see much of you from up here."

Laughing in her peculiar way, Luna replied by simply letting the floating objects fall to barely an inch above the floor, poking her tongue out.

"Why, I would be mad at you but I'm far too impressed with your ability to use that charm," gasped the bushy haired witch, following a loud scream that she had been unable to hold in.

Luna had since let the objects slowly touch the floor and sat next to the girl, beginning to chat away about the current book Hermione was reading, specifically being a history the Ministry of Magic.

XXXXXX

By the time that the other students began walking into the Great Hall many hours later both Hermione and Luna were afraid of the Ministry, and rightfully so, as the book they had just finished was more of a horror story than anything else.

"What's got you two with that look on your faces," asked Neville Longbottom, sitting down across from them with a worried look, "hopefully nothing to do with anybody I know..."

Luna replied by shaking her head, words being a little too difficult for the girl who had been surprised for the first time in many years. What the Ministry had done was simply... wrong.

"Nothing about anyone alive, Neville, it just looks like neither of us will be working for the Ministry of Magic in this lifetime." Hermione sighed, the Ministry had seemed like such a good option for a fast-paced mind such as hers.

"Oh, Gran made me read a book like that once!" Exclaimed the slightly chubby boy, "except that the more horrific stuff, said she, was what they choose not to do, things that could be good for everyone." Neville shrugged, not desiring to go into details.

Luckily for him a freshly washed Harry sat down next to him, wishing both of the girls a good morning.

As the four of them began to banter, Luna was intensely aware of two things going on around her.

The first was that Ron Weasley decided, for the first time since the obvious schism between the former trio, not to sit with the four. Up until this point he had sat almost in silence with the four, occasionally deciding to add his thoughts to whatever conversation was being had at the time, although his opinion was often overlooked. Today he sat with other members of Gryffindor, quite close to Fred and George Weasley who immediately began to tease him.

The second thing she noticed was the definite smell of swan in the air, something that led her to believe that the mail was on its way.

As though the universe was giving her thoughts a huge tick of being correct a large number of owls flew in, alongside a single honking swan.

"Leda!" Exclaimed the blonde girl, interrupting Harry in the middle of what he was saying, rapidly standing and curtseying to the creature.

Hermione raised one eyebrow, and before Harry could object to the interruption a rather large swan landed on his head.

"Why hello there, Leda! I take it you aren't here to drop off today's issue of the Quibbler?"

The swan honked in affirmation, bobbing it's long, feathery neck up and down.

Turning around it dropped a small, well wrapped in brown paper egg onto the dining table, frightening Harry. He had thus far almost accepted that a swan was sitting atop his head having some sort of conversation with his Ravenclaw friend, but was not prepared for that.

He jumped backwards while sitting, toppling backwards onto the dining room floor. As he fell the swan named Leda leapt upwards off his head, honked twice and flew out of the hall.

Everyone that had seen this odd occurrence began laughing, Harry's face red and embarrassed.

Biting her lower lip to stop herself from laughing at Harry, Hermione asked "Luna, aren't you at least going to open the package?"

"Why Hermione, are you out of your mind? To do so would mean that I wouldn't know when to use it! But when the time comes, my father's gift will be used to its full potential. I thought you were the logical one of the group!" Exclaimed a bewildered Luna in response.

Unsure of what to say in response to this, Hermione simply nodded along with the girl and made her way into her delicious breakfast, distracting herself with thoughts of tonight's lessons with Lupin.

XXXXXX

Strolling happily, Hermione and Harry made their way towards Lupin's office for their sixth lesson with their personal tutor.

Passing through their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, they entered the room where they had spent many a happy hour and greeted their teacher, and someone who they both now considered to be their friend.

"Ah, Harry and Hermione. Come in, come in my friends. Why, Hermione, I just saw you a second ago!" The middle aged professor proclaimed as he did each lesson, referring to the lesson she would later receive on the finer points of time-turning. Hermione smiled, remembering how much easier his assistance had made her life, as well as showing her that it was okay for Harry to be in on her secret.

Harry chuckled politely at his tutors little joke and sat down in the offered chair, Hermione taking a seat in the plush chair on his left. Naturally, as she was to be working longer, she could be more comfortable.

The two looked at the older man expectantly, looking for some idea of what they could be covering on this, their latest lesson. Harry, on one hand, was hoping for a lesson on dealing with magical and mythical creatures as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, cuts and bruises on his thighs deep and red. Care of Magical Creatures was looking to be nearly impossible and Harry knew that this would at least help somewhat.

Hermione, next to him, simply wanted spells that she could memorise, find nuances and a hundred uses for, and then store away in the library that was her brilliant mind.

And while both were acceptable on their own, Lupin knowing full well what each student desired, although less so for Harry, he was happy to be able to oblige both with the days lesson.

"Today we shall be studying Dementors, and the spell necessary for repelling them," the refined werewolf declared while noting the glimmer of excitement in the eyes of both of his students. "Naturally, as we are now constantly surrounded by the life-sucking gits, we should know how to stop them if they decide to ignore the ministry, right?"

Both students nodded along, glad that they had far less to do with the Dementors following the terrible incident of the train ride, the cold and clammy feeling almost something that didn't have to deal with daily.

"But professor," began the ever-knowledgeable Hermione with a furrowed frown, "aren't spells like that meant to be NEWT level spells?"

Remus laughed and smiled, "Ah, Hermione. Although yes, I am glad that you understand that this spell is not without danger, seeing as it's rather tiring, I have absolutely no doubt that you'll be perfectly capable of casting it."

Harry beamed and stood up, eager to being learning, sure of his ability to cast a spell he knew nothing about. "Let's get started then!" Harry declared.

"Harry... you have no idea what this spell requires."

"Too right, Hermione, this spell isn't just about waving and words. That's why it's a NEWT level spell! Sit down, my boy, and give me time to explain."

Naturally desiring to learn from this private tuition, Harry sat down, still eager and glad despite showing him to be wrong.

"This spell, the patronus charm," began Lupin, Harry and Hermione both eagerly and attentively listening and finding nothing but enjoyment within their teacher's instruction.

XXXXXX

Authors Notes: This has been sitting like this for a while now. And, while it is a short chapter, I felt like I'd publish it after a bit of editing.

Criticism would be appreciated, and hopefully I'll get chapter 4 out soon enough; ideas are already swirling around my head.

Make sure to check out the new movie!

F.S.


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